Environmentalism and Political Theory: Toward an Ecocentric Approach

Citation

Eckersley, R. (1992). Environmentalism and Political Theory: Toward an Ecocentric Approach. UCL Press; State University of New York Press.

Chapter Summary

Context and Argument

Eckersley's book appeared in 1992 as an early comprehensive study of how environmental concerns bear on political thought. Its stated aim is to disentangle the strands of Green political thought and to explain their relationship to the major Western political traditions, using insights from environmental philosophy to outline a particular Green perspective. The title announces that perspective: an ecocentric approach, which treats the nonhuman world as having value in itself, as opposed to an anthropocentric approach centred on human interests. The book has an Introduction, seven chapters in two parts and a Conclusion. Part I maps the terrain and defends ecocentrism, and Part II uses it as a yardstick to examine four bodies of political thought: Marxism, Critical Theory, ecosocialism and ecoanarchism.

Part I, Chapter 1: The Development of Modern Ecopolitical Thought

The chapter follows how the environmental problem has been understood in three successive ways: as a crisis of participation, as a crisis of survival, and as a crisis of culture and character that offers an opportunity for emancipation. It then sets out the emancipatory critique of conservatism, liberalism and orthodox Marxism and ends with the cleavage inside emancipatory thought between anthropocentric and ecocentric positions, which frames the rest of the book.

Part I, Chapter 2: Exploring the Environmental Spectrum

Eckersley sorts environmentalism into streams on a spectrum from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism: resource conservation, human welfare ecology, preservationism, animal liberation and ecocentrism. The chapter is a conceptual map that shows where ecocentrism differs from other environmental positions.

Part I, Chapter 3: Ecocentrism Explained and Defended

The chapter explains ecocentrism, answers common criticisms and misunderstandings, and presents three varieties: autopoietic intrinsic value theory, transpersonal ecology and ecofeminism. It is the philosophical core of the book and provides the standard used in Part II.

Part II, Chapter 4: The Ecocentric Challenge to Marxism

The chapter examines the theoretical roots of Marxism and then two attempts to green it, orthodox eco-Marxism and humanist eco-Marxism, before turning to what lies beyond Marxism.

Part II, Chapter 5: The Failed Promise of Critical Theory

Eckersley reviews the legacy of Horkheimer, Adorno and Marcuse and the Habermasian revisions, offers an ecocentric critique of them, and revisits the question of the "good life".

Part II, Chapter 6: Ecosocialism: The Post-Marxist Synthesis

The chapter presents the ecosocialist critique, including its farewell to scientific socialism and to the consensus on economic growth, the problematic role of the working class, a new internationalism, and the ecosocialist agenda. It closes with an evaluation, framed as the question whether ecosocialism offers more democracy or more bureaucracy, and with a discussion of an alternative green market economy.

Part II, Chapter 7: Ecoanarchism: The Non-Marxist Visionaries

The chapter covers Murray Bookchin's social ecology, including his social hierarchy and evolutionary stewardship theses, and ecocommunalism in the forms of a revisited monasticism and bioregionalism. It then asks whether ecocentrism demands ecoanarchism, considering whether humans are essentially cooperative, the other side of decentralisation, local democracy and human scale, and the ecoanarchist model of autonomy as self-management.

Conclusion

The Conclusion follows Chapter 7 and closes the book; the publisher's contents list gives it no further subdivisions.

Key Concepts

Part I

• Anthropocentrism and ecocentrism: the human-centred view and the view that the nonhuman world has value in itself.
• Crises of participation, survival, and culture and character: three ways the environmental problem has been framed in political thought.
• Streams of environmentalism: resource conservation, human welfare ecology, preservationism, animal liberation and ecocentrism.
• Varieties of ecocentrism: autopoietic intrinsic value theory, transpersonal ecology and ecofeminism.

Part II

• Eco-Marxism and ecosocialism: attempts to combine ecological concerns with Marxist or socialist theory.
• Critical Theory: the Frankfurt School tradition and its Habermasian revisions, assessed for their promise.
• Ecoanarchism: social ecology, ecocommunalism and bioregionalism, with their emphasis on decentralisation and self-management.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear two-step design. Part I builds the framework and Part II applies it to four traditions in turn, so the reader can see exactly what test each tradition faces.
• Breadth of traditions in one volume. Marxism, the Frankfurt School, ecosocialism and ecoanarchism are treated in separate chapters, each with its internal debates set out in sections, such as the contrast of orthodox and humanist eco-Marxism.
• Philosophy tied to politics. The publisher describes the book as an interdisciplinary study that connects environmental philosophy, ecological thought and political inquiry, and endorsements printed by the publisher from Lester Milbrath and Alan Drengson call it a significant scholarly contribution to green political theory.

Limitations

• Written from one standpoint. The title and the chapter "Ecocentrism Explained and Defended" show that the book argues for ecocentrism, so the traditions in Part II are assessed against it and not neutrally surveyed. Readers who do not share the premise will want other accounts.
• Date. The book is from 1992, so later developments in Green politics and climate politics are not covered.
• Selective scope. Part II contains four chapters, on Marxism, Critical Theory, ecosocialism and ecoanarchism. Liberalism and conservatism are treated in Chapter 1 only as targets of the emancipatory critique, and there are no chapters on policy-making or institutions.
• Demanding prerequisites. Chapters 4 and 5 assume some familiarity with Marxism and with the Frankfurt School.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the course mates, this is the theory-centred book. Carter's The Politics of the Environment is a comparative textbook that connects environmental philosophy and green political thought with activism and policy, and it is a good first overview before Eckersley. Chasek, Downie and Allan's Global Environmental Politics and O'Neill's The Environment and International Relations are introductory textbooks on global environmental problems and international responses. Ostrom's Governing the Commons studies how communities manage shared resources, which makes an empirical counterpoint to the discussion of decentralisation and local self-management in Chapter 7. Paterson's In Search of Climate Politics is a monograph on climate change as a political question.

A sensible order is a textbook first, Eckersley for the theory, and then Ostrom or Paterson for empirical and institutional follow-up.

How to Use This Book

This is a book for readers who already have some political theory. Start with the Introduction and Chapters 1–3, which are the core and which contain the framework. Then choose from Part II according to interest: Chapters 4 and 6 for the Marxist and socialist line, Chapter 5 for the Frankfurt School, and Chapter 7 for anarchism and social ecology. Read the Conclusion last.

While reading, write down for each tradition what Eckersley finds usable and what she rejects, and ask whether the same test would give the same verdict if the ecocentric premise were replaced. Because the book is from 1992, pair it with a recent text for current debates. The book appeared in 1992 from both UCL Press (London) and the State University of New York Press (Albany).